Amy is currently recuperating from a boob job, and one of the patients who has seen this new obsession of hers has said that “Amy loves that he’s toned and very fit.”

If George shares her interest, it should be a very interesting relationship. Like his dad, George Foreman III is a boxer who believes in a clean, healthy lifestyle. Could this be the beginning of a new life for Amy Winehouse?

Image: Zuma Press

Post from: EveryJoe

Amy Winehouse Facebooking George Foreman

George III won his professional boxing debut this past Saturday by “stopping Clyde Weaver at 1:16 of the first round.” He’s got more than his dad’s gene’s however. The senior George is also his son’s trainer and manager.

Image: Zuma Press

Post from: EveryJoe

George Foreman III Wins Debut

Last week the deeply in debt and still 6′4″ 245lb. Jose Canseco issued a $5K boxing challenge to the general public. Headline the July 12 Atlantic City card presumably stocked with duking-it-out D-listers and the moolah is yours. Thankfully, a former athlete stepped up the the plate and we won’t have to see Jose pummeled by Vinnie from south Philly.

That athlete is none other than former Eagle punt return and special teams wizard Vai Sikahema. Sikahema is currently employed at sports director at Philadelphia’s NBC affiliate WCAU. Vai is no stranger to the celebrity boxing circuit. In January of this year he knocked out a local radio host. To catch some of Vai’s pugilistic skills click here. It’s hard to hate on Sikahema for taking the fight as he will be donating his $5K from the Canseco fight to the widow of slain Philadelphia police Sgt. Stephen Liczbinski.

Nevertheless, fight fans might be asking, “Why would you even post stuff like that on your blog? It’s not real boxing. It’s more like pro wrestling.” Alas, this is a pro wrestling blog too, but that’s beside the point. Last week in our really long Why Do We Think Boxing Is Dirtier Than Tennis Despite the Facts? post we pondered (A) boxing’s incorrect reputation for dirty fixed fights and (B) its subsequent marginalization by the public. Is this fight an example of both?

(A) We’re not alleging the Canseco-Sikahema fight is fixed – it doesn’t matter enough for that – but the only fights we remember being dirty in the last 20 odd years involved celebrity fighters padding win stats in a P.T. Barnum-esque look-at-the-freaks atmosphere: Butterbean, Mark Gastineau, and even the 50+ year-old George Foreman and Larry Holmes.

The problem with (B), boxing’s marginalization, comes because the public at large has more exposure to these farces then it does good fights.

For example, one of the world’s best fighters, middleweight Kelly Pavlik, is fighting in Atlantic City in two Saturdays from now on June 7 but Canseco’s AC fight is the one garnering attention from the Philly Daily News boxing writer.

We can’t blame him, www.jabandgrapple.com is also guilty as charged. We didn’t have to post about The Badboy of Baseball but we did. It gives us an excuse to post a picture of Vida Guerra with said Badboy.

Photo Source: Newscom.com

Post from: EveryJoe

Jose Canseco to Fight Former NFL All-Pro; Cooler Heads Avert Eyes

ESPN.com’s Boxing site posted a terrific article today about the history, collectibility standards, and emotional pull of promotional Fight Posters entitled Fight Posters Still Getting it Done. Jabandgrapple.com immediately wondered a few things:

1) Where can I buy these historic timepieces?
2) Could they be had for a reasonable price?
3) Do any hold any artistic or design value?

Question #1: Where can I buy these historic timepieces? www.ebay.com was my first thought. And yes, they have hundreds of fight posters on auction. There may even be one on there that I have my eye on. Usual ebay problems apply: their stock is always changing, authenticity and quality is not necessarily guaranteed, but you might get a good deal.

In the past year this Max Baer – Rocky Marciano poster sold for $133 on www.americanmemoribilia.com while this Ken Norton – George Foreman poster went for just $55. Are they rare or valuable? I have no idea. But they are nice looking.

The best place to start you search and get an idea of the market is Bob Pace Boxing Memoribilia. He’s got 18 pages worth of boxing posters all authenticated and heavily scrutinized for quality. I’ve spent far too much time paging through his listings. Pace’s site calls itself “one of the largest suppliers of Boxing Memoribilia in the World.” It would be hard to argue against this claim.

Question #2: Could they be had for a reasonable price? It seems. The most expensive posters on Pace’s site run at $2,500 but most hover around the $50 to $200 range with the more recent fight posters selling at around $25. The poster’s value is directly related to both its rarity and the significance of the fight. Ebay prices are unpredictable but if you know what you’re looking for you might get lucky.

Question #3: Do any hold any artistic or design value? I was really disappointed on this end. The older posters tend to be either bland listings of the fighters involved or uninspired prints of boxers’ faces or full bodies. There’s rarely any cleverness or fun. One exception is this Max Baer – Primo Carnera poster.

The 70’s and 80’s posters are dominated by the works of the handlebar-mustachioed Leroy Nieman and his splotchy colorful semi-abstract works. If you don’t like Nieman’s gaudy oils (and I don’t) then you’re out of luck during this time period. He seemingly did the poster for every major fight.

The 90’s and the 00’s have proved even more design deficient. The even gaudier than Nieman Pen & Pixel gangsta rap CD-cover styled design has taken over. Sadly, clever and subtle graphic design only rarely made its way to boxing posters. The emphasis has always leaned towards substance over style and information over abstraction.

In our next entry we will be posting pictures and links to our favorite Mike Tyson posters that Pace sells. A few cool Iron Mike designs do sneak through the cracks.

Post from: EveryJoe

Boxing Posters For Sale